Monday, March 3, 2008

Il Postino

Aisha, our adoption coordinator at HOPE, called today to say she got our LOA (letter of acceptance) from China.

And there was great rejoicing!

Once we sign and send it back to her, it heads to China, and we begin our wait for Travel Approval from the Consulate in Guangzhou. Lately travel approval has taken about 3 weeks.

Special note: There is a worldwide Trade Show in Guangzhou from April 15-30. Travel into or out of that city to finalize adoptions at the Consulate would be impossible. Therefore, Jason and I would not be able to get into Guangzhou until that first weekend in May.

So this is theoretically how things MIGHT go (please keep in mind this is dependent on travel permission being granted in 3 or 4 weeks):

Week of April 20th – head to Beijing to sightsee for several days. See the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, etc. Eat lots of spicy noodles. If we can swing it, we’ll also visit the city of X’ian, where the Terracotta Warriors were found. Amazing historical site.

Week of April 27th – We’d head to Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan province. Zhengzhou is 2½ hours from Dang Yong’s orphanage in Nanyang. We would meet Yong at the Civil Affairs office, and he would stay with us from then on in!!! Sometime during that week, we would (hopefully) be allowed to visit his orphanage, collect stories and pictures of his life there.

Week of May 4th – From Zhengzhou we’d head to Guangzhou, the capital city of China, and where the Consulate is located. We could theoretically have our Consulate Appointment on May 5 and our swearing in as Yong’s parents on May 6.

We'll let you know when we have new posts!

"In You the orphan finds mercy" -Hosea 14:3

We all carry an orphan's broken heart.

But God sent His Son so that we could have the opportunity to be adopted into His family. His Son came in mercy and intervened on our behalf when we were helpless. He bought back our empty lives. He redeemed us. He gave us His name. Everything He is and has becomes ours.

-Jan BeazelyThe Strength of Mercy

About Me

We've just returned from China with our 4-year-old boy! What a complete joy he is -- and how amazing his adjustment and adaptation to life in the States has been.
We are part of a small, awesome Baptist church in Maine, a tight-knit group that is absolutely tickled to be adding another member.